"Horns", a brand new song from Swedish death/black metallers APOSTASY, can be streamed on the band's Facebook page. (Note: You must "like" the group in order to stream the cut.) The track comes off APOSTASY's third album, "Nuclear Messiah", which will be released later this year via Gothenburg, Sweden's Rambo Music, a division of Gain Music Entertainment (which is distributed and partly owned by Sony Music).

AEROSMITH entered guitarist Joe Perry's home studio (The Boneyard) in suburban Boston on July 5 with producer Jack Douglas to begin recording its long-awaited 14th studio album. The CD will be AEROSMITH's first set of original material since 2001's "Just Push Play" and first studio offering since 2004's covers CD, "Honkin' On Bobo".

A short video clip of Perry and singer Steven Tyler at The Boneyard working on one of the songs for the new album can be seen below.

Former MANTAS, DEATH and MASSACRE vocalist Kam Lee has joined forces with ex-OBITUARY/SIX FEET UNDER guitarist Allen West in a brand new death metal band called CORPSE ROT.

Regarding how the name of the group was chosen, Kam said, "Believe it or not, this name has not been used [by any other band before]. (Note: This statement appears to be inaccurate. — Ed.) How is that even possible? And how I came up with the name… I was joking with Allen. I'm like, 'Allen, I'm kind of known for the song 'Corpse Grinder'. You're kind of famously known for 'Slowly We Rot'. Let's just put the two together and see if there's a fucking band with that name. Nah, there's no band with that name."

More information on CORPSE ROT will be made available soon.

Fan-filmed video footage of Swedish metallers SABATON performing the song "Into The Fire" with a special guest appearance by former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. frontman Udo Dirkschneider at the 2011 Rockstad: Falun festival, which was held June 3-4, 2011 in Falun, Sweden can be seen below. Other musicians who joined SABATON on stage during the concert included Chris Boltendahl (GRAVE DIGGER) and Frédéric Leclercq (DRAGONFORCE).

The members of SABATON stated about the opportunity to perform with Dirkschneider, "Original frontman of the legendary ACCEPT, and it's a dream coming true for us to have 'The Voice of Metal' join us on stage. Many U.D.O. and ACCEPT albums lies close to the heart of SABATON and they are often played in our tour bus."

German melodic metallers EDGUY have just returned from the video shoot for "Robin Hood", the opening track from the band's forthcoming album "Age Of The Joker". Video director Oliver Sommer (AVANTASIA, NENA, HELLOWEEN) and the band decided to satirize the Errol Flynn film "The Adventures Of Robin Hood". The miniature epic was shot in the forest with a large number of additional actors, starring German TV comedian Bernhard Hoecker in two different leading roles.

Commented EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet: "When you decide to do things like that, of course, you have to be aware that you will most likely make a fool out of yourself. We had to wear tights and looked a bit like four idiots and one transvestite. But we have come to a point we don't care so much anymore. We feel like being in a luxury position where the record label gives us a lot of money to waste for really silly things like sneaking through the forest and looking like idiots.

"The shooting was one of the funniest days in our career, and that means something. Although it was hard work — the rain, the mud, soaking wet tights, angry horses, carriage, a lot of travesty, sword fighting and hurting smile muscles. You gotta check it out!"

The "Robin Hood" single will be released on August 5 and will be available as a digital download and on green vinyl.

The video version of the song was cut down to five minutes, but the album version has a running time of more than eight minutes.

FANTÔMAS, the eclectic supergroup featuring Mike Patton (FAITH NO MORE, TOMAHAWK, PEEPING TOM), Buzz Osborne (MELVINS), Trevor Dunn (MR. BUNGLE, MADLOVE) and Dale Crover (MELVINS, SHRINEBUILDER), release "The Director's Cut Live: A New Year's Revolution" on DVD and as a standalone audio download on September 6 via Ipecac Recordings.

Filmed at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall on December 31, 2008, the DVD features audio commentary by comedian Neil Hamburger.

FANTÔMAS released the studio version of "The Director's Cut" in July of 2001. The album tackles a collection of beloved and eerie film compositions including Nino Rota's "The Godfather", Bernard Herrmann's "Cape Fear" and Jerry Goldsmith's "The Omen (Ave Satani)". Upon its release, Pitchfork said the effort was "as cinematic as its source material" and NME called it "gleeful butchering."

Two songs featured on "The Director's Cut Live: A New Year's Revolution" were not in the original release of "The Director's Cut": Al Green's "Simply Beautiful" and Marc Bolan & T. Rex's "Chariot Choogle".

"The Director's Cut Live: A New Year's Revolution" track listing:

01. The Godfather
02. Night of the Hunter
03. Cape Fear
04. Experiment in Terror
05. One Step Beyond
06. Rosemary's Baby
07. The Devil Rides Out
08. Spider Baby
09. The Omen (Ave Satani)
10. Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer
11. Vendetta
12. Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion
13. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
14. Der Golem
15. Charade
16. Intermission
17. Simply Beautiful
18. Chariot Choogle

"Traumaggedon", the new video from Madrid, Spain's HAEMORRHAGE, can be seen below. The song comes off the band's new full-length album, "Hospital Carnage", which was released on May 24 in North America (May 30 internationally) via Relapse Records. The follow-up to 2006's "Apology For Pathology" was made available on CD, LP and digitally. The album art, as designed by the band's guitarist/vocalist Luisma, can be seen below.

"Deadeye Dick", a brand new song from BURY YOUR DEAD, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track comes off the band's new album, "Mosh 'N' Roll", which is scheduled for release on August 2 via Mediaskare Records.

"Mosh 'N' Roll" track listing:

01. Slaughterhouse Five
02. Nothing Is Lost Save Honor
03. Bluebeard
04. The Sirens Of Titan
05. Deadeye Dick
06. Timequake
07. Sun Moon Star
08. Slapstick
09. Mother Night
10. Jailbird
11. Mosh 'N' Roll

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS is putting the finishing touches on the material for its next album, tentatively due in early 2012. Feverishly working since its return from its most recent European tour, the band is looking forward to testing out some of the new songs later next month when it returns to Stateside venues for a string of dates that is set to begin August 25 in Las Vegas and conclude when the band performs alongside MORBID ANGEL in Los Angeles on September 23.

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS' first European tour since 2009 took the group through twelve countries in a quick 21 days. Band leader Sorceron notes, "The shows were excellent. We had a great time with our friends in ISKALD and THULCANDRA and hope we can join them again in the future. A big thanks to everyone who came out to the shows; we really appreciate your support.

"The upcoming dates have us headlining in the west, including the Rocky Mountain Goat Roast; we are co-headlining the fest with MISERY INDEX. The Scottsdale show has us sharing the stage once more with ex-hometown friends VEHEMENCE and LANDMINE MARATHON. And what more can I say about playing with MORBID ANGEL other than how awesome it will be to finally share the stage with a band we grew up listening to?"

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS' as-yet-untitled third album will be recorded in September. Sorceron says, "The new material is a continuation of our last album but with more atmosphere and far more extreme tempos. We are adding back some of the symphonic elements that were on 'In the Shadow Of A Thousand Suns' album but without sacrificing any of the edge that was on 'In the Absence Of Light'. So far we are really happy with everything."

The first trailer for "Welcome To The Morbid Reich", the new album from Polish death metal veterans VADER, can be seen below. Due on August 12 in Europe and September 13 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records, the CD was recorded at Hertz Studio in Bialystok, Poland and features the cover artwork of Zbigniew Bielak (DESTRÖYER 666, WATAIN). The band laid down a total of 12 songs for the CD, which was mixed and mastered in May.

"Welcome To The Morbid Reich" track listing:

01. Ultima Thule
02. Return To The Morbid Reich
03. The Black Eye
04. Come And See My Sacrifice
05. Only Hell Knows
06. I Am Who Feasts Upon Your Soul
07. Don't Rip The Beast's Heart Out
08. I Had A Dream...
09. Lord Of Thorns
10. Decapitated Saints
11. They Are Coming...
12. Black Velvet And Skulls Of Steel

German heavy rockers SINNER will release their new album, "One Bullet Left", on September 9 via AFM Records. The CD was recorded in Stuttgart, Germany with Mat Sinner producing and Achim Köhler engineering.

"One Bullet Left" track listing:

01. The One You Left Behind
02. Back On Trail
03. Give & Take
04. One Bullet Left
05. 10 2 Death
06. Haunted
07. Atomic Playboys
08. Suicide Mission
09. Wake Me When I'm Sober
10. Mind Over Matter
11. Mend To Be Broken
12. Rolling Away

"City Of Hope", the new video from legendary rockers JOURNEY can be seen below (courtesy of AOL's Noisecreep). The first single from the band's latest CD, "Eclipse", was inspired by, and written in lead singer Arnel Pineda's hometown of Manila, Philippines. The clip is a documentary-style combination of performance, behind-the-scenes glimpses of JOURNEY at rehearsals in San Francisco earlier this year, plus footage of the band in Manila.

San Diego-based brutal death metallers PATHOLOGY have completed work on their new album, "Awaken To The Suffering", for a September 13 release. The CD was recorded at Lambesis Studios (owned by AS I LAY DYING vocalist Tim Lambesis) in the band's hometown with producer Daniel Castleman (IMPENDING DOOM, AS I LAY DYING, WINDS OF PLAGUE). This will be PATHOPLOGY's first CD to feature the group's new lineup, including vocalist Jonathan Huber and second guitarist Kevin Schwartz, who have spent time on the road with their new bandmates during recent U.S. and European tours with DEICIDE and OBITUARY.

The artwork for "Awaken To The Suffering" was brought to life by the twisted mind of Pär Olofsson (IMMORTAL, THE FACELESS, ABYSMAL DAWN) and can be seen below.

"The recording came out great. This is by far the best thing we have ever done. Everything is extremely heavy and very tight," explains drummer Dave Astor.

"It's great working with Pär again on this cover. He did an amazing job. We decided to do a pencil sketch cover this time around. We also brought back the evil doctor to continue the zombie havoc."

NIGHTWISH frontwoman Anette Olzon has uploaded the demo recording that she sent to the band in November 2005 which led to her being hired to replace Tarja Turunen as the Finnish group's lead singer. The track, her version of the 2002 NIGHTWISH single "Ever Dream" (from 2002's "Century Child" album), can be streamed below.

Around 2,000 women applied for the vacant vocalist spot in NIGHTWISH and only 10 actually auditioned in front of the band.

THE RESISTANCE, the new Sweden-based metal band featuring former members of IN FLAMES, THE HAUNTED and GRAVE, will make its very first track publicly available on the sampler CD that will only be distributed to the subscribers of Sweden's Close-Up Magazine in the August 2011 issue. In addition to the THE RESISTANCE track, which goes by the name "An Eye For An Eye", the sampler CD will include contributions from all the other bands that are booked for the magazine's Close-Up Båten cruise that leaves Stockholm, Sweden on September 8 and returns one day later.

Toronto's WARMACHINE will release its long-awaited new album, "Left For Dead", on July 23 via JMD Records. The CD was once again produced by Murray Daigle and was recorded in Canada.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Moving On
02. We're The Chemical
03. Chalk Lines and Bones
04. Alive
05. Fallacy
06. Too Late
07. Inevitable Crash
08. Loved and Lost
09. Forgive and Forget You
10. Left for Dead
11. A New Beginning

Several of the songs are now available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

WARMACHINE's "Raw in the Hammer" DVD contains footage from the band's January 20, 2007 concert at The Underground in Hamilton, a documentary on the band's history, behind-the-scenes footage and more.

WARMACHINE's debut album, "The Beginning of the End", was released in 2006 in North America via Nightmare Records.

"The Beginning of the End" features a guest appearance on three tracks ("Betrayed", "Empty" and "Taunted Souls") by MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine was interviewed for the "Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief" "Battle With The Devil" special, which aired earlier tonight (Wednesday, July 20) on the ABC television network. You can now watch the segment below.

On the existence of the devil:

Mustaine: "The greatest he's ever told was convincing people he doesn't exist. And you see people that think he's red and he's got a goatee and a pointy tail and stuff like that. He doesn't. He's very beautiful. He's an angel. Why would he look like some monster? He's capable of looking just like you. He could in this room right now. You wouldn't know it . . . It's a very scary thought."

On whether people are right when they say heavy metal music is infused with the power of the devil:

Mustaine: "In some cases, yes. But not in all cases. Because you've got great heavy metal bands that believe in God and glorify Him. We pray every night before we go on stage."

On how he wasn't always a Christian:

Mustaine: "My mom was a Jehovah's Witness. I was brought up as a Witness and I revolted into the witchcraft because I hated going out and knocking on people's doors."

On how he, as a teenager, cast two hexes, including one on a bully who suckerpunched him:

Mustaine: "From what I heard, he got in a car accident and something happened to a part of his body that I had targeted in a hex, and that showed me that it was real."

On his second hex, which was on a girl he was in a class with:

Mustaine: "Everybody wanted her, including me, but she was so out of my batting average and just totally out of my league. And I did it, and the next day she was in my apartment.

"I was [convinced that these hexes, or spells, that I was casting worked]. And I do believe in the dark side. Most people think that black magic and witchcraft and stuff like that isn't real or it doesn't work. And I know that it works."

On how his fascination with the occult continued into his adulthood:

Mustaine: "I was doing a lot of blood pacts with people. This was before we found out about AIDS. It was real simple stuff where you cut your thumb and you rub it with someone else and you become blood brothers. I don't wanna make a spiritual covenant and mix my life with somebody else who I don't know who they are and how they are. The Bible said that blood is life."

On whether his abuse of alcohol was related to the Satanic influences that he had been dabbling in:

Mustaine: "I'll say this: Every time I drank, I did not always do activities that were Satanic, but anytime I had been doing anything that was Satanic, I had been drinking. [So there] absolutely [was a relationship between the two]."

On how he will no longer sing some songs, like MEGADETH's cover of the SEX PISTOLS' "Anarchy In The U.K.", and how he believes he's better for it:

Mustaine: "I think that I'm more dangerous now that I've become a Christian than I ever was before when I was trying to go the opposite route, because I'm armed with the truth now."

In "Beyond Belief: Battle With The Devil", "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran set out to discover how the battle against Satan is being carried out in America, for those who believe that the Prince of Darkness and Author of All Lies is a real presence in the world, a real threat in their lives.

From the Agape church in New York to an exorcism conducted in California, from a Christian ministry attempting to rescue women from the sex trade in Las Vegas to a training class for exorcists in Rome, from Times Square in New York to the "Amityville Horror" house — Moran met people who sincerely believe they are locked in combat with the devil.

State the "Beyond Belief: Battle With The Devil" producers: "We don't set out to prove or disprove the existence of Satan; we simply want to respect the authenticity of the beliefs of the people we met. What we hope we've done is shine a light into a world of spiritual warfare that goes on all around us, and report the amazing experiences of people who are convinced they have struggled not just with the moral reality of evil in their lives, but with a powerful and terrifying supernatural being who promotes and generates that evil: The devil."

Following the turbulent and successful release of "Road Salt One" in the year 2010 and the touring activities in its support which climaxed with shows in India and South America earlier this year, Sweden's PAIN OF SALVATION will issue "Road Salt Two" on September 26 in Europe and October 11 in North America via InsideOut Music.

"Road Salt Two" track listing:

01. Road Salt Theme
02. Softly She Cries
03. Conditioned
04. Healing Now
05. To The Shoreline
06. Eleven
07. 1979
08. The Deeper Cut
09. Mortar Grind
10. Through The Distance
11. The Physics Of Gridlock
12. End Credits

Radio Metal conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine at the French edition of the Sonisphere festival on July 9 in Amnéville. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Radio Metal: Your new album is going to be called "TH1RT3EN". Have you had any bad luck during the making of the album? Or, on the contrary, do you think this will bring you good luck?

Mustaine: It's been very good luck. We did this record in… in record time — I don't want to sound silly — but we've never done a record this quickly. Well, when we did "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" it was fairly quick, but things were different back then, you know, I had my whole life to write a record. For this record, I'd had to start from scratch with no songs, basically, when we started it. We had some song ideas and we had a couple of tracks that we had worked on before but nothing that had ever been finished.

Radio Metal: You recently stated in an interview that the album sounds unlike anything you've ever done because it sounds really super-modern, before adding that it sounds like really old classic BLACK SABBATH with a little bit of a modern edge of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE. Those aren't really what we can call super-modern bands, especially BLACK SABBATH. Can you further explain what you meant?

Mustaine: Yeah, that's a really bad quote that's gotten out there. What I said was that it's got some really super modern sounds, because that's Johnny's (K, producer) style. The sounds themselves are like old SABBATH! Right? Now, that doesn't mean that the songs are like old SABBATH songs. The sound is. Some of the guitars. But when you put the guitars all together, you put the bass in there, and the drums, and you add the vocals, it doesn't sound the same at all. And what I had said about QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, I was talking about guitar sounds. I don't know that band at all! I know one song. (He sings the riff from "No One Knows")

Radio Metal: Yeah, that's "No One Knows".

Mustaine: Yes, that's it! I mean, God bless those guys, they don't need my publicity at all to help them, I know they're super successful and they're evidently a great band, but the quote has been really mistaken.

Radio Metal: The last couple albums were in the classic thrash metal MEGADETH sound and, according to some of your statements, it sounds like you wanted to do something different this time…

Mustaine: No. We're following our roots right now. We're right where we want to be, the last record was where we wanted to be. This record is where we want to be right now, getting back to what we do. You know, when "Risk" was finished, I told Marty [Friedman, then-MEGADETH guitarist] "We have to go back to our roots," and he didn't want to do that. He wanted to play more pop music, so we parted ways. That's a big statement for a guy to make a guitar playing change because he does not want to continue down a particular direction. So from "Risk" to here, each record has gotten a little bit more like what's deep down inside me. You know, when you learn all that stuff like how to write a particular song, something happens to you, when you write another song, that's still in there. Depending on who's taught you, how successful it is, sometimes you struggle with not wanting to listen to that because you know if you do those kind of things, it would probably make the songs more successful but… would the fans like it? You know? So we kind of just followed our hearts again, because when we played music for ourselves, that's when I felt the best about it on stage. And I can tell, the songs we played on stage, if I don't really feel like "Oh my God, I love this song, I love playing this song, this is the greatest song ever" you can usually tell, because the audience kind of reacts that way, too.

Radio Metal: Dave Ellefson was quoted saying that it was funny that 20 years ago you guys came off "Rust In Peace" and then went in and made "Countdown To Extinction" and that to him this is what this new album feels like. Is this your feeling, too?

Mustaine: Well, I've got to tell you, to me it's got the most potential of anything we've done since then because "Countdown" was our biggest record ever, and it's nearing triple-platinum in America, which is a big thing. And I've got to tell you, this record… I'm really proud of it. All the other records, you want to say "Hey, it's a great record, it's this, it's that". I haven't been just trying to color my answers, I've just been saying "This is what it is, you've got to hear it for yourself." I love it! I think it's great. I think it's the best thing I've done in a long time. But I mean, you've got to be the judge. And you've already heard songs, man, you've heard "Sudden Death". You've heard "Never Dead", the track on that video game. You've heard… well, I don't know if you've heard "Public Enemy" yet, but… I know you've heard these songs, you know?!

According to a posting on OVERKILL's official web site, the long-running New Jersey thrashers will not take part in the previously announced North American tour featuring ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL.

Plans for the six-week trek were originally revealed by TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy during an interview with "Metal Zone" host Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone at the second show of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival on July 10 in Mountain View, California.

In other news, OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni has been writing material for the band's next album. The group has six songs demoed so far and is planning to hit the studio in early October, with a new release slated for March/April 2012 followed by a U.S. tour.

Over the years, legendary singer Ronnie James Dio fronted some of the most popular/enduring hard rock/heavy metal bands of all time, including RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH/HEAVEN & HELL, and DIO. But before all of these bands, there was ELF. Described as a "rock/honky tonk/blues band," ELF's forthcoming release, "And Before Elf… There Were Elves", will prove that Ronnie could easily handle other rock-related styles.

Released on October 11 via the Niji Entertainment Group, "And Before Elf" will feature twelve previously unreleased tracks (all from 1971), comprised of both live in the studio and live on stage tracks. The album will feature a striking lenticular/3D/hologram cover on which, when you turn it, you will see two alternating images — Ronnie from the first ELF LP as well as a vintage group shot from 1971. And although these recordings are 40 years old, the sonic quality still passes the test, as longtime DIO engineer Wyn Davis remastered the original tapes.

Formed in 1967 in Cortland, New York, THE ELVES also featured other members that would carve a niche for themselves in the hard rock world! Guitarist David "Rock" Feinstein (Dio's cousin) would go on to front THE RODS. ELF would last for a trio of albums, before Ronnie exited the group in 1975, to co-form RAINBOW with ex-DEEP PURPLE guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.

Ronnie James Dio always had the golden touch as a masterful singer and frontman. And upon hearing "And Before Elf… There Were Elves", you'll discover he possessed his one-of-a-kind voice from the very beginning of his career.

"And Before Elf… There Were Elves" track listing:

01. You Shook Me
02. Stay With Me
03. Four Day Creep
04. Buckingham Blues
05. Wakeup Sunshine
06. Driftin'
07. Smile For Me Lady
08. You Felt The Same Way
09. Simple Man
10. Drown Me In The River
11. Cold Ramona
12. Little Queenie

Athens, Ohio's SKELETONWITCH will release its new album, "Forever Abomination", on October 11 via Prosthetic Records. The follow-up to 2009's "Breathing The Fire" was recorded at a Los Angeles studio with producer Matt Hyde (SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, KREATOR). The effort will include the track "The Infernal Resurrection", the demo version of which appears as the B-side on the final seven-inch of a limited-edition vinyl trilogy. This marks SKELETONWITCH's first recording with the group's new drummer, former DEMIRICOUS skin-pounder Dustin Boltjes.

SKELETONWITCH will take part in a fall North American tour alongside ARCH ENEMY, DEVILDRIVER and CHTHONIC, and has just confirmed "off-date" shows along with DEVILDRIVER. The band will play several Midwestern shows next week, before heading to Europe for a run of dates which include performances at several of the continent's biggest metal festivals.

SKELETONWITCH's latest album, "Breathing the Fire" (2009), debuted at No. 151 on The Billboard 200 chart and No. 2 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200. It was SKELETONWITCH's second full-length release for Prosthetic Records, with whom the band recently extended its recording deal.

PURE SWEET HELL, the metal band featuring former NEVERMORE drummer Van Williams, is currently mixing its sophomore album, "Spitting At The Stars", for a late 2011 release. The CD will feature guitar solos from a few of heavy metal's top shredders, including Glen Drover (EIDOLON, MEGADETH) Steve Smyth (NEVERMORE, TESTAMENT, FORBIDDEN), Chris Amott (ARCH ENEMY), Jeff Loomis (NEVERMORE) and Attila Voros (LEANDER, NEVERMORE). John Winters (HATEFIST), who contributed in the production/engineering of the record, got a chance to lay down a solo as well.

A new PURE SWEET HELL track entitled "The Paradox Of Suffering" featuring a guitar solo from Glen Drover can be streamed at this location.

PURE SWEET HELL's full-length debut, "The Voyeurs of Utter Destruction As Beauty", came out in February 2005 via Crash Music, Inc.

PURE SWEET HELL consists of Williams and Christ Eichhorn, who has spent much of his time writing music and doing studio and live work with a number of bands. The group's music can be described as a combination of thrash, black, and death metal.

Guitarist/vocalist Dean Sternberg (WITHIN ANOTHER, INTO ETERNITY), who was called upon for a guitar solo on "The Voyuers Of Utter Destruction As Beauty", is taking on a bigger role this time and is sharing vocals on some of the tracks alongside Van.

Williams and guitarist Jeff Loomis announced their departure from NEVERMORE in April.

Guitarist/vocalist Patrick Mameli of resurrected Dutch death metallers PESTILENCE has released a statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET clarifying some of the more controversial comments he made in a recent interview with Blistering.com and apologizing if he offended anyone with his previous remarks.

Regarding PESTILENCE's plans to tour the U.S. in support of the band's latest album, "Doctrine", Mameli told Blistering.com, "I love the States and I embrace it with all of my heart. But I think with coming over to the States, it's almost like giving birth to a child. You guys were there on the moon before the Russians, yet you can't get a [good] show going. [What I mean by that] is the promotions are bad, the equipment is bad; touring there is bad because of bad promotion. It's bad promoters, really. I really want to come over there but we need good promoters who will promote the shit out of shows so there can be a good crowd going. I know there's a ton of people over there who want to attend a PESTILENCE show. I mean, I really, really want to come over to the States because I love 'em, but goddamn, make sure you get your promoters right so we can come over there."

When asked by Blistering.com what is more annoying, when the metal media asks him questions about former PESTILENCE vocalist Martin Van Drunen or why he brought PESTILENCE back after all these years, Mameli said, "I think it's more annoying to talk about Martin Van Drunen because he's a fucking douche bag."

During the same interview, Mameli was asked, "If you could beat up one person, who would it be?", to which he replied, "Any fucking person on Blabbermouth," before clarifying, "The fucking chat room people who make all those fucking comments."

Earlier today (Wednesday, July 20), Mameli sent the following written statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET in response to the criticism that he received for the Blistering.com interview:

"To all the Blabbermouth readers:

"First off, some people can really see the actual joke behind this. Of course Martin isn't a douche bag. He's one of the best death metal vocalists out there. I haven't spoken with him in years. So no need to bash him. The interviewer asked me a question and I replied what he wanted to hear, just to get a reaction.

"It's too simple. They always want to talk about the past and hope that I say shit.

"And, of course, I ain't beating up people that post on Blabbs. There's too many of you guys, hahah. I'm a father and have two sons. I would never lower myself into fighting. The fact is, with this headline, it shows once more how messed up this Internet journalism is.

"Did you not think that I knew this was going to go on Blabbs? It shows how fora like this work and want to stir up shit. That's my point. And we can see that some guys that always bash PESTILENCE and me on Blabbs now get the opportunity to ventilate once more. Always the same guys.

"The people around me that really know me personal, including the band, know that I never take myself and this music industry too seriously. That's how we can survive in this scene.

"Also, I stated that I love the U.S. Nothing wrong with the metalheads out there. We just got bad routing, promotion and transportation. Great to be travelling through the whole U.S. with an RV. Once more, that shows that we're in it for the love of the music and not the money.

"So sorry if I offended anyone. This was really not my intention."

PESTILENCE's new album, "Doctrine", was released in North America on July 19 via Mascot Records. The eleven-track CD was recorded and mixed at Woodshed Studio in southern Germany with engineer Victor Bullok (TRIPTYKON, DARK FORTRESS). The artwork was designed by Marko Saarelainen.